Album: The Chieftains, Voice of Ages (Decca)

To commemorate their 50th anniversary, The Chieftains here collaborate with young luminaries of various roots-rock strains, from bluegrass virtuosi the Punch Brothers to retro-minstrels the Carolina Chocolate Drops.

Paolo Nutini brings the apt timbre and weary dignity to "Hard Times (Come Again No More)", while The Decemberists' Colin Meloy has the sturdy asperity of a righteous ranter on a version of Dylan's "When The Ship Comes In". Lisa Hannigan's delivery of "My Lagan Love" is pure and crystalline, but the standout piece is "Down in the Willow Garden", on which Bon Iver's Justin Vernon does his multi-tracked vocal thing over haunting uillean pipes. Rounding off the album is "The Chieftains in Orbit", on which they accompany astronaut Cady Coleman's flute, recorded on the Space Station.

DOWNLOAD THIS Down in the Willow Garden; My Lagan Love; Hard Times (Come Again No More)